I was hoping that today I could capture enough outdoor heat for the house that I'd be able to leave the furnace off most of the night. Despite a high temperature of 73 degrees outside, the house only got up to 66 degrees, even with all the windows open. That means the furnace will be running again very soon. As it is to be 73 degrees again tomorrow and Friday, and the nights will continue to drop into the low fifties, it's unlikely I'll have a furnace-free night until Saturday, when the high is expected to get into the low eighties.

It will still be chilly Saturday night, but if I can get the house up to 72 or so during the day, it shouldn't go below about 64 that night, as long as I close the windows soon enough that evening. A few more warm days will follow, so I might get three or four nights without the furnace, but after that it will get cold again, and a week from tomorrow there could be rain. All of these nights will be going on this month's energy bill, and that's the main thing I'm worried about. With luck, it won't go above sixty bucks, but I don't know if my luck will hold out. A really cold spell after next week could send it soaring, though soon after that the expenditures will show up on November's bill. I always expect that one to be large.

So, anyway, despite the undesirable costliness resulting from its inadequate heat, the day was pleasant enough. I sat on the back porch reading for a while, and even enjoyed an icy drink. A hummingbird visited the row of flowers along the fence, which, for the first time I can recall, have bloomed in October. Usually the bloom in spring and keep their flowers into the middle of summer, then die back until next year. I suspect that a chilly spell we had in September, followed by a return of the heat, fooled them into thinking spring had come around again. That was a lucky break for that hummingbird, as there's nothing else blooming right now.

One of the local markets has fall peaches on sale this week. I didn't get many peaches from the early summer crop this year, so I'm looking forward to having some now. I intend to slice a few of them, let them sit a while with a bit of sugar on them, then drown them with half-and-half. I used to use full-on cream on peaches, but that stuff has gotten way too expensive. Still, the peaches are the main thing, not the dairy product, and I intend to gorge on them. Must store up calories for the winter (yeah, that's my excuse.)

Right now I'm going to go make some pasta. I'm trying to use up all the older packages, so I can restock with fresher stuff next time it's on sale. Also I've got a big container of ricotta that is apt to go bad if I don't use it up fast. Putting it on pasta is the only thing I think of to do with it. There are, of course, recipes on the Internets, but most of them require other ingredients I don't have on hand, and which often tend to be pricey anyway. Anybody know anything cheap to do with rocotta?